Famous Japanese Dragons

Eastern dragons can be rather...elusive. For example, not much is officially
known about how Fuku Riu (the Japanese good
luck dragon) looks like exactly.

There are certain little things to look out for.
A Japanese dragon definitely has three claws on each foot (Chinese dragon
has five, Korean has four). Japanese dragons are much more slender and
serpent-like. Eastern dragons are sometimes shown with a pearl, which
means many things from wealth to wisdom and good luck & prosperity.
Eastern dragons ascending in the sky are symbolic of "success in
life".

I was discussing this with someone who was researching on Fuku Riu.
Personally, I think such a dragon would have a certain "liveliness"
as opposed to "fierceness".

Print by Kunisada,
1860.
According to Dr.
Karl Shuker, the print probably depicts the female
sage Tai-shin flying across the ocean on a white dragon.

The following are reasons why I don't think this white dragon is Fuku
Riu. The little that can be gathered from this print is that the dragon
is flying across an ocean. It's during the night too. Good luck wouldn't
really be associated with the dark or night in Eastern mythology. White
is the traditional color of mourning in many Eastern cultures. The dragon
is white and also oldish-looking (the white bushy eyebrows, stray hairs
on claws). Could it be O Goncho? If it is,
then this dragon is signalling famine!

The more cheerful dragons in eastern mythology tend to be either looking
upwards or "ascending" (towards the sky, the heavens, success,
etc), like the gold dragon below.

So while the identity of the Kunisada white dragon isn't exactly confirmed
(at this point in time), it is likely that it isn't Fuku Riu by process
of elimination. All in all, the dragon's doing a good job upkeeping
its secrets and mystery.

Famous Japanese dragons:

1.Ryu Jin or Ryo
Wo
· Originated from Shinto, Japan's traditional religion
· Dragon king of a kingdom of serpent people under the sea
· Ruled in a spectacular palace of crystal and coral
· Said to have a human body, and a serpent entwined in his crown.
· Known for his nobility and wisdom, Ryu-wo was a guardian of
the Shinto faith. People who have fallen into the sea are said to have
lived on in the kingdom of Ryu-wo.
· Ryu-jin has a submarine palace, Ryugo-Jo. His messenger is
Riuja, a small white serpent with the face of an ancient man.
· A man named Hoori once visited the sea-god's palace and got
a wife. But as soon as the first baby came the wife became a dragon
and sank beneath the sea.

2. Blue-Green Dragon
· Guardian of the Eastern signs of the Japanese Zodiac
· The Chinese characters making up the name can be read seperately
as "qing," meaning either "green" or "young,"
and "long," meaning "dragon."
· In Japanese the kanji is "aoi" for "blue-green,"
and "ryu," for dragon. The name can also be pronounced "Sei
Ryu."
· This could be Sui Riu, mentioned two lines below.

3. The main 'dragon kings' recognized
in Japan:

· Sui Riu is a rain-dragon,
which when in pain causes
red rain, coloured by its blood.
· Han Riu is striped with
nine different colours and is forty feet long. This dragon can never
reach heaven.
· Ka Riu is a small dragon;
only seven feet long. It's said
that Ka-Riu is scarlet, a fiery red. Some sources even
say that its body is all flame.
· Ri Riu has wonderful sight
and can see more than 100 miles.

Susanoo asks for Kushinada's hand in marriage, and transforms her into
a comb which he places in his hair. The Orichi is tricked into getting
drunk on sake. It dips each head into a liquor vat and is intoxicated,
allowing Susanoo to slice it to pieces.

- Yofune-nushi was a sea serpent
that feasted on young beautiful maidens. A [kick-ass] girl named Tokoyo
blinded it with her knife, then killed it when it reared back and exposed
its neck.